In the past few decades, humanity’s understanding of medicine and computational technologies has advanced so quickly that we now wonder what might happen when we’ll be able to heal any wounds and store our consciousness in machines. These questions are precisely what moves Restore Point (Bod obnovy), a stunning sci-fi thriller that pays homage to classics such as Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner and Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, but unfortunately never properly explores its many intriguing ideas. As a result, it offers a solid police investigation story though fails to use its unique sci-fi world as well as it could have.

The title Restore Point refers to a groundbreaking technology that became widespread in 1941 that offered the ability to back up your consciousness onto a server and resurrect a dead body in case of unnatural death. Of course, the advent of wondrous technology doesn’t mean the resolution of human conflict, which is why the world of Restore Point is plagued with increasing social inequality and, as a consequence, crime. People live in fear of losing their lives in a violent assault, which is why European nations decide to offer free resurrection to all its citizens through the Restore Institute. That means, in the movie’s futuristic society, everyone is covered by government-issued insurance that can save people from death.

While restore points change the world, the technology is fickle, and a person can only be resurrected if they have a backup not older than 48 hours. This constraint leads many people to drown in paranoia, constantly creating copies of their consciousness to avoid losing any memory.

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‘Restore Point’ Makes Sci-Fi Personal
Image via Fantasia International Film Festival

Like so many beloved sci-fi stories before it, Restore Point unfolds as a police investigation conducted by Detective Em (Andrea Mohylová), a lone wolf law enforcer with a personal vendetta against a terrorist group called River of Life. In the future, River of Life opposes the restore point technology, killing innocent people to prove their point. One of those victims was Em’s husband, leading the detective on a crusade to capture those responsible. Thus, it’s not surprising that she is reckless and has little regard for the rules, revealing herself to be anything but a team player.

At first, Restore Point feels too formulaic for its own good. We’ve seen the story of the traumatized cop too many times already, and the script from Tomislav Čečka, Zdeněk Jecelín, and director Robert Hloz plays it a little too safe when it comes to tropes. That won’t necessarily change as the story unfolds, but Restore Point is crafted with such care that we slowly get sucked into Em’s investigation. There’s praiseworthy attention to detail when it comes to the thriller side of Restore Point, with new clues revealed at the right pacing for the audience to connect some dots by themselves and still question what happens next. It’s a solid formula to keep people engaged while Restore Point explains the rules of its world.

As expected, a murder investigation will lead Em in a desperate search for the truth about the restore point technology. I’s all connected to the Restore Institute, a company that wants to break free from its government ruling and privatize the right to be resurrected. Sci-fi has always been a powerful tool to denounce corporate greed, and Restore Point is no different. Unfortunately, as high as the production value of Restore Point might be, it can’t help but feel somewhat disappointing in regards to its story. The foremost reason for this is that Em’s investigation fails to inspect the mind-blowing consequences of technological resurrection and human consciousness turned into data.

‘Restore Point’ Misses World-Building Opportunities
Image from Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with Restore Point’s script, sci-fi as a genre thrives when it dares to innovate. Because of that, the movie’s by the numbers approach to storytelling harms it as we can feel there was a more interesting way to explore its titular technology. The true impact of its revolutionary technology in the fabric of the world is barely present in the plot.

At a certain point, Detective Em needs to visit an establishment of ill repute that gives us a glimpse at Restore Point’s underworld. Without spoiling anything, that moment is exemplary of the movie’s issues. In just a couple of minutes, we are led to imagine what kind of sick games people with access to resurrection might play, and how far crime lords would push the technology to its limits. There are so many exciting questions that emerge from Restore Point’s core concept that it’s a shame the movie chooses to walk the most obvious path instead of tapping into the subversive tradition of sci-fi.

There’s a whole world of unexplored possibilities hiding in plain sight in Restore Point and the most interesting question the movie raises never gets explored on screen. Since it is the first feature in most of the cast and crew careers, much of this can be forgiven. Yet, given how well-directed Restore Point is, it is clear this team can aim higher and deliver fresher sci-fi concepts.

Rating: B-

Restore Point had its European premiere at 2023’s Karlovy Vary International Film Festival.